North West Business 2019 edition

SPECIAL FEATURE
of previously excluded communities. This is already
taking place to a small extent in that the province's
first solar plant is partly owned by the community
in which it operates. There is much more scope
for this kind of partnership, but there is also scope
for the development of a manufacturing sector to
support the renewable energy sector. A start has
been made to attract solar panel manufacturers to
the Platinum Special Economic Zone in the Bojanala
District Municipality.
The province’s other manufacturing strategy –
boosting agriprocessing – is in better shape now
that the worst of a prolonged drought is over. The
creation of district agri-parks is intended to boost
primary production which in turn will increase the
amount of raw material that can be processed.
Companies making car seats within the province’s
active automotive parts sector would be a ready
market for treated hides from the huge provincial
cattle herd.
An amount of R110-million has been set aside
for the establishment of a Special Economic Zone
(SEZ) in the province. The project is intended to
make investment more attractive by clustering
infrastructure and related industries in one location.
The SEZ planners hope to attract R4-billion in
investment over a five-year timeframe.
The City of Rustenburg has started a planning
process which looks forward to a time when
mining’s role in the economy will be reduced,
and sectors such as health and education might
become more important. Renewable energy is
another area where some preliminary work has
been done.
The fact that Rustenburg’s plans also include
the creation of a Mining Supply Park point to the
fact that mining’s influence is likely to continue for
many years to come. This is also true of some of the
plans to diversify the province’s manufacturing base
– they often rely on the base mineral that comes
from mining anyway. Platinum prices may not be
as strong as they were, but platinum group metals
have enormous potential in the energy field, and
North West researchers and businesses are working
on possibilities to exploit this.
Strategies
The Provincial Government of the North West has
two main economic strategies:
• The development of Villages, Townships and
Small Dorpies (VTSD)
• A focus on three key sectors: agriculture, culture
and tourism (ACT).
Other areas of focus are: mineral beneficiation;
renewable energy; retail and wholesale; ICT and
the development of economic infrastructure.
Tourism has been identified as an important
driver of future growth and the investment by Sun
International of more than R1-billion in the Sun City
complex is helping to create momentum in a sector
which has a proven track record of creating jobs.
Two events took place in 2018 which placed
North West tourism in the spotlight. The 2018
National Tourism Careers Expo (NTCE) took place at
Sun City and was attended by about 7 000 school
pupils and university graduates from around the
country. At a Tourism Imbizo in Potchefstroom, more
than 1 000 young people were encouraged to study
in that sector. Tourism has grown steadily in the
North West and has been a reliable creator of jobs.
The province's other great assets include Sun City,
the Pilanesberg National Park, private game lodges
and the Hartbeespoort Dam. Two UNESCO World
Heritage Sites are located at the Vredefort Dome
(where a meteorite hit the earth about two-million
years ago) and Taung, where the discovery by an
archaeologist of a skull in 1924 is regarded as one
of the most significant of all time.
Principal towns
Mahikeng
The capital city of the North West Province lies on
the banks of the Molopo River. Situated in the northwest
sector of the province near the Botswana
border, the city has a strong services sector and a
population of approximately 300 000.
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